Russia is offloading crude oil from smaller tankers to larger ones off Morocco's Mediterranean coast as Greece tries to curb trade with Moscow.
Points of attention
- Russia is expanding oil transhipment points, using a new port in Morocco to move oil from smaller tankers to larger ones.
- Greece is trying to curb trade with Russia by conducting naval exercises in an area where trade with Moscow used to take place.
- The Indian company Reliance Industries concluded an agreement with Rosneft to purchase significant volumes of oil, which will be paid for in Russian rubles.
- 80% of Russian Urals oil goes to Asia, particularly India and China, emphasising the importance of cooperation with Indian partners.
- Economies of scale in transporting oil over long distances provide Russia's decision to use VLCCs for the transhipment of crude materials.
The Russian Federation has found a new port for transhipment of its oil
Tankers carrying Russia's flagship oil grade, Urals, transfer it from smaller tankers to larger ones near the city of Nador on Morocco's east coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
Vessel tracking data collected by Bloomberg evidences this.
Since last month, the Greek Navy has been conducting naval exercises in a place where trade with the Russian Federation used to take place, trying to curb it.
The large oil tanker Rolin, or VLCC, receives Urals oil from the smaller tanker Serendi off the Moroccan city. Bloomberg writes that this is the first case of the so-called overloading of the variety from ship to ship.
Serendi is an Aframax-class vessel. At the same time, two other tankers, Ocean AMZ and Sea Fidelity, also arrived in Nador. Last month, all three vessels loaded about 730,000 barrels of Urals oil from the Russian port of Primorsk in the Baltic Sea.
It is noted that approximately 80% of Russian Ural oil is supplied to Asia, mainly to India and China.
The use of VLCCs provides economies of scale for long-distance shipping, but European countries are wary of allowing transhipment of [Russian — ed.] cargo near their coasts.
Thus, the naval exercises of Greece seriously hinder the transhipment of Russian oil in the Gulf of Laconia, where such operations have become much more frequent since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
What is known about the agreement of the Indian oil refiner to pay in rubles for Russian oil
Reliance Industries has signed a one-year agreement with Rosneft to buy at least 3 million barrels of oil monthly.
At the same time, calculations will be made in Russian rubles.
The article emphasizes that the long-term agreement with Rosneft will allow the Indian Reliance to continuously supply cheap Russian oil, the supply of which on the world market is limited due to the decision of the OPEC+ countries to reduce production.
Rosneft representatives also confirmed the conclusion of the agreement.
The authors of the material, citing their own sources, note that the agreement entered into force on April 1. According to the terms, the Indian oil refiner will buy two batches of Urals oil with a volume of 1 million barrels, as well as one or two batches of 1 million barrels with a volume of 700,000 barrels.
In addition, the company can purchase up to four additional lots of Urals.
